Plot & Theme:
Plotting as Procedural Argument

And whatever else it may be dramatically, each plot--how events happen and why--is also an argument. To plot well is to say, "This is how the world works," that if you place this person A in this situation B, the result will be event C. If plot is anything, it is a vehicle of reason. Or, if you prefer, high speculation on why things turn out as they do. If some writers find plot to be a difficult problem to solve, I would wager it is because they also find it difficult to engage in the ballet of argumentation, and also because they are not familiar with the many forms that reason or reasoning can assume.
Charles Johnson [Joh88, p. 32]

In order to consciously develop a plot from a theme, particularly for digital media, it is useful to state that plot in terms of a procedural argument, that is an argument with very specific steps and stages, which will represent an aspect of the theme. This statement will then be further developed in the actual enactment of the completed story. The formula of this argument comes in three parts which function as the beginning, the middle and the end of the plot, but it must be remembered that these are functional designations and not chronological ones, since specific things happen at these stages regardless of the time line within a story.

Thematic Plotting as Procedural Argument
Beginning: If...
(this set of characters are in this set of situations)

This stage of the thematic exploration or argument sets up the audience's expectations and involvement. Specific elements of this stage include:

  • An introduction of the narrator and whether that narrator is overt or invisible, reliable or unreliable or simply adding the heavy colouring of perspective.
  • An introduction of the focal characters and the opening moves to revealing their goals and priorities.
  • Building a sense of place and situation.
  • Developing the quality or genre of the narrative by selecting which traditional devices to apply.
Middle: then...
(these events are likely to unfold)

This stage demonstrates process through interaction of characters, states and events. Specific elements of this stage include:

  • Characters face challenges
    • Person vs. person
    • Person vs. nature
    • Person vs. society/the system
    • Person vs. self
    • Audience's initial impression of character vs. development of subsequent impressions.
  • Challenges create change
    • External
    • Internal
End: resulting in...
(leading to these consequences or culminations of events)

This stage creates the sense of a whole and complete experience. Specific elements of this stage include:

  • Demonstration of process conclusion through:
    • Reward
    • Solution
    • Clarity
    • Growth
    • Death
    • Failure
    • Suggested incipience of entirely new action based upon previous action.

For my project which is based on The Odyssey one theme of concern for me is the nature of loving, healthy family relationships and their representation. So if I were to explore my story primarily from the perspective of that theme, then I might state my argument for plotting purposes thus:

If Odysseus has left her family at home while going to war and finds that she can not return immediately because her crew has offended Poseidon...

then she will choose to face whatever gods, humanity and nature throws at her to get home because her family are of utmost priority for her and thereby discovers that priority within herself, and meanwhile her family makes a similar choice to face all challenges in order to await her apparently unlikely return...

resulting in a dramatic and tearful reunion demonstrating the depth and strength of their love for one another.

This forms a starting point. But for digital media more can be done with this theme. I could choose to emphasise the importance of the decision points within this story and thereby need to fit the procedural argument into a tree-branching shape. In which case the argument might be expanded and altered in this way:

If
Odysseus chooses to stay at home with her family while her Greek allies have all gone to war... Odysseus chooses to leave her family at home while going to war and finds that she can not return immediately because her crew has offended Poseidon... Odysseus chooses to bring her family with her when going to war and finds that they cannot return immediately home because the crew has offended Poseidon...
then
she will form closer bonds with her family but at the expense of being attacked by another country without help in defense by her former allies... she may choose to stay with her lover, Kalypso, with whom she has already lived for many years and begins a new family... she may choose to face whatever gods, humanity and nature throws at her to get home because her family are of utmost priority for her, meanwhile her family may make a similar choice to face all challenges in order to await her apparently unlikely return... she may choose to face whatever gods, humanity and nature throws at her to get home because her family are of utmost priority for her, meanwhile her family chooses not to wait such a lengthy time for her return... she chooses not to fight in order to protect her family but nevertheless provides support for the other Greeks, and in her journey home her family face challenges and learn how to love and become more interdependent of one another...
resulting in
Odysseus' domain being taken over and her family having to flee. She learns that it is important to participate in the world as well as nurturing her family. Odysseus living with some regret, because even though she forms bonds of love with her new family, she can only trust that her other family has moved on and is doing well. a dramatic and tearful reunion demonstrating the depth and strength of their love for one another. Odysseus regretting that she had gone to war at all, but respecting the choice of her family. She then goes on to start a new life for herself while remaining a part, though not a central part, of the family she left behind. a joyous and well deserved return home where they all become equally good caretakers of their domain.

If instead I wish to emphasise the comparisons and contrasts amongst the different families found within the story of the Odyssey and in this way explore the diversity of family behaviour, healthy and unhealthy, then I may choose to fit the procedural argument into a multi-pathing shape. In which case the argument might be expanded and altered in this way instead:

If
Odysseus has been away at war and she has been delayed by misadventures for many years, she may wonder what sort of reception she may receive from her family upon returning home and yet out of love still choose to face the journey...
then
she may meet with other families on the way who may further develop her hopes and fears about going home

The Story of Clytemenestra and Agamemnon

If Agamemnon has been away at war and his wife is not willing to wait for his return...

then Agamemnon will find that his wife is now partnered by Aegisthus...

resulting in Aegisthus murdering Agamemnon for his wife.

The Story of Menelaus and Helen

If Menelaus and Helen have not had the best of marital relationships such that Helen runs off with Paris...

then Menelaus will do whatever it takes to win Helen back including risking war with the Trojans...

resulting in their reunion and the revival of their marriage.

The Story of Arete and Alkinoos

If Arete and Alkinoos are wise and equal partners in raising their family and ruling their domain, and they are generous to their guests...

then they will be treated with people's respect, goodwill and the telling of their stories...

resulting in a happy marriage, a happy family, a happy country and interesting lives.
resulting in
Odysseus being prepared for whatever she may meet, which is suitors needing routing and the enduring love of spouse and child.

Additional interactivity, character development and detail are of course expected in the final work. However, it should be noted that in using this procedure not just any choices and results are suggested, but those that help explore the theme. This serves to make a digital, multi-pathing work as a more coherent whole.

To further develop the theme at this stage creators may wish to consider what problems will be posed not only to the characters but to the audience as well. Such problems are known as narrative hooks and become extremely important when dealing with an interactive environment where it is up to the creators to give their audience reasons for following through on their investigations of the story to its conclusion. Novelist Stephen Minot quantifies seven major hooks:

[Min93, p. 276-277]

These hooks can be applied to the overall story and to the individual episodes. Basically, organising the plot with these sorts of hooks in mind means that the creators are egging the audience on to ask questions about the work, which will eventually (if all goes well) satisfactorily reveal the answers and thereby make the creators' exploration of theme, the audience's exploration as well.

In setting forth these plotting patterns it is my intent to develop a descriptive guide rather than a proscriptive structure, avoiding limitations being set on content or the imagination, and yet still producing an engaging and coherent story. The last thing I want is for the procedural argument formula to become yet another way to automate plotting, but rather a means to approach the task of storytelling with greater clarity and skill, using it as a tool to open up to greater beauty and insight.

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